BBC Scotland has been forced to correct themselves once again after claiming Maurice Johnston was the first Catholic player to ever play for Rangers.
Whilst the signing of Maurice Johnston rocked Scottish football 30 years ago today, Rangers have had a range of Catholic players playing for them since the club’s inception.
This is something that the BBC failed to recognise as they correct their second gaff concerning Rangers in under 24 hours.
After Rangers defeated St. Joseph’s 4-0 in Gibraltar, BBC Scotland deleted a bitter tweet which suggested the Ibrox club had narrowly avoided an upset.
The comments on Maurice Johnston are considerably more serious and add to what has previously been called “one of the biggest myths in Scottish football”.
Maurice Johnston, categorically, was not the first Catholic to play for Glasgow Rangers.
The furore around the player’s signature stemmed from how “high-profile” the player’s attachment to former club Celtic and his faith was.
This was a significant step forward for Rangers and Celtic, who, like everyone else in Scottish society dealt with issues concerning sectarianism then and continue to do so now.
But the notion that Rangers never signed a Catholic before Johnston is simply not true.
It’s a widely-held belief which plenty of fans have been quick to challenge.
https://twitter.com/robbielogan72/status/1148964599368224770
https://twitter.com/jimmymacgers/status/1148959511916494849
https://twitter.com/clonejack/status/1148955769578164224
https://twitter.com/TheRangersBear/status/1148900044759867392
https://twitter.com/imaldoh/status/1148884627047817217
https://twitter.com/cccammy1/status/1148881823725969409
https://twitter.com/GoodCopBabcock/status/1148874196094738432
It’s the latest development in the ongoing dispute with BBC Scotland which stems back several years.
Last season, BBC Scotland was forced to apologise to releasing an image including a design of Ryan Jack’s severed head.
The Broadcaster was also forced to backtrack after their tweet in the aftermath of James Tavernier being assaulted by a Hibs fan suggested he was mutually responsible.
Still, at least the club got an apology for all this Maurice Johnston stuff. Wait a minute…
